Yeovil Town manager Billy Rowley has set his sights on pulling away from to the National League Premier Division’s relegation zone as his side prepare to travel to Altrincham this weekend.
The Glovers, who progressed to the FA Trophy quarter-finals with victory at AFC Telford United last weekend, sit three points above the drop zone with games in hand over all the teams below them except bottom club Gateshead who have also played 37 matches, but the boss is not taking anything for granted.
Following the trip to Greater Manchester on Saturday, Yeovil travel to fifth-placed Boreham Wood next Wednesday and then hosting league leaders Rochdale at Huish Park the following weekend.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Jack Killah on Thursday, the Glovers’ boss said: “It sounds an obvious thing to say, but we are really keen to make sure that we put points on the table in these last 19 games and I think as much as we need to start getting some points on the board, we still just need to start laying down some really good performances.
“I’m a believer that if you do that enough times from now to the end of the season, then you pick up points and you get what you deserve, so my mind is definitely on going (to Altrincham) and trying to be hard to beat and not concede goals and get three points.
“At the same time, I’m still trying to embed some of the new boys, some of the new loans into how we play and how we want to play and it just still might take a few more games before we can start clicking into gear like we did on Saturday quicker than we expect. If it does take a few more games, then I’m really confident in this group that we will pick up some good results from now to the end of the season.”
They face an Altrincham side sat level on 31 points with them in the table, albeit having played three more games, and only one place below them virtue of a poorer goal difference. The Robins were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Morecambe in midweek having lost 3-1 away at Carlisle United last weekend.
Rowley is expecting winger James Daly to be available for the game having miss the win at Telford along with recent arrivals Ryan Jones and Tyrell Works, who were both cup tied, and he said star midfielder Luke McCormick had been involved in training for the first time in a fortnight.
Striker Aaron Jarvis has also been involved in training, but the boss said he expected him to still be “another week” away from being considered for selection having suffered a concussion in the 2-1 defeat at Brackley Town in the last league game.
The boss also spoke about the decision to send midfielder Jacob Maddox out on loan to National League North side Merthyr Town until the end of the season. The 27-year-old is making his way back after a long-term injury and has featured in a number of matchday squads recently, including an appearance as a substitute in the 72nd minute of the win at Telford last weekend.
Rowley said: “They play a good brand of football there and he will suit them a lot. He has been injured for a year and it is really hard to get lads on the pitch and give them enough opportunity and enough minutes to actually get back to where they need to get back to. So the idea behind that was to give him an opportunity to go and play enough football in the next couple of months to give him an opportunity to potentially be here next season or, if not here, somewhere else and show the best of himself.”
Rowley said he was happy with his squad following the departure of Maddox and following the recent exits of midfielder Max Jolliffe, who returned to his parent club Colchester United, and defender Michee Efete.
He said: “I’m really happy with where the squa i’s at and the depth we have in various positions. I’m always looking to bring in players, whether it be in the next couple of weeks or the end of the season. I’ve said this before in many interviews, I’m not somebody that just likes to get players in for the sake of it, just because we’ve got an extra slot available. We need to think deeply about what players we bring in and why we bring them in, and not only from an attributes perspective, we need to make sure we get the right people and people that really want to be here and play for the club.
“At this stage of the season with 19 games, it’s harder to find that because every player that’s out there doing well would obviously require a fee to get them away from their club. So it just so happens at this stage of the season, loans are a great way to beat that – but we already have our five loans . We might just have to wait a little bit longer to get the players that we need, but we are definitely looking.“